Spanish identity in the age of nations

First published in Spanish in 2001, this book was quickly recognised as a monumental achievement by one of Spain’s most original and engaging historians. Alvarez Junco’s book is a path breaking study of the development of Spanish national identity (‘the idea of Spain’) from the Middle Ages to the present.

First published in Spanish in 2001, this book was quickly recognised as a monumental achievement by one of Spain’s most original and engaging historians. Alvarez Junco’s book is a path breaking study of the development of Spanish national identity (‘the idea of Spain’) from the Middle Ages to the present.

Spanish identity in the age of nations offers the first comprehensive account in any language of the formation and development of Spanish national identity from ancient times to the present. Much has been written on French, British and German nationalism, but remarkably little has been published on Spanish nationalism. Paradoxically, even in Spain there is much more on Basque, Catalan and other regional nationalisms than on Spanish identity. As a result, this study fills an enormous gap in the literature on Spanish history.This book traces the emergence and evolution of an initial collective identity within the Iberian Peninsula from the Middle Ages to the end of the ancien regime based on the Catholic religion, loyalty to the Crown and Empire. The adaptation of this identity to the modern era, beginning with the Napoleonic Wars and the liberal revolutions, forms the crux of this study. None the less, the book also embraces the highly contested evolution of the national identity in the twentieth century, including both the Civil War and the Franco Dictatorship.Álvarez-Junco´s pioneering study was awarded both the National Prize for Literature in Spain and the Fastenrath Prize by the Spanish Royal Academy

PrefaceIntroductionI - THE ORIGINS OF THE NATION1. Ethnic patriotism2. Factors conditioning inherited identity3. The “war of independence”: a promising beginningII - THE NATIONALISATION OF CULTURE4. National history and collective memory5. The arts and sciences enlisted in support of the nationIII - CONSERVATIVE OPINION: BETWEEN RELIGION AND THE NATION6. Catholicism and españolismo: from the Antiguo Régimen to Fernando VII7. The “Two Spains”IV - THE SUCCESSES AND FAILURES OF SPANISH NATIONALISM IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY8. An identity in search of a purpose9. The “crisis of penetration” of the State10. Heading towards “Disaster”BibliographyIndex